I have
learned the benefit of leaving my cell phone in my home office when I go to
bed. I used to keep it on a small night stand next to my bed and use it as an
alarm clock. The problem was, as I would try to go to sleep I would desire to
check sports updates, or respond to just one more text. Putting my phone away
in my office and buying a simple alarm clock gave me the opportunity to have a
few moments of quiet prayer leading to sleep. I had to put away my phone to
gain a quiet moment.
At times
our lives situations require us to put some things away. There are things that
we all need in life, but fail to have because we refuse to put away some things
that we should not have in the first place. Some of these things that we need
are things that we have lost. Perhaps you have lost a sense of peace or a
measure of faith. When we lose peace or faith, life becomes a struggle to
regain them. Therefore we have the challenge of regaining what we have lost by
putting away what we should not have.
1 Samuel 7:3 states, “And Samuel
said to all the house of Israel, ‘If you are returning to the LORD with all
your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and
direct your heart to the LORD and serve Him only, and He will deliver you out
of the hand of the Philistines.’” The context of this verse (1 Samuel 4-7) is a
time of great trouble and loss. The Israelites were seeking to regain what they
had lost. The trouble was, they had a strong enemy and were not in right relation
with God. This had been the case for many years and now they were beginning to
experience the challenges of having what they should not.
Where they
found themselves, brought about the need that many of us have today. They and
we need to put away our false comforts. The Israelites had been defeated by the
Philistines and the Arc of God had been captured (Ch. 4). They had come to
believe that if they had the Arc with them, they could not suffer defeat. They
were wrong. What brought victor was God, not that which symbolized Him. That
which you believe to signify the presence and power of God is useless without obedience
to God.
The
Philistines also became an example of what must be put away. Those things to
which we trying to add God. The Philistines suffered greatly because they tried
to place the Arc of God among their gods and thus returned it to the Israelites
(Ch. 5-6). Trying to add God to your gods causes false assurance and failure.
Is we want what God offers we cannot add him to life goals. He and His Will
must become our life goals.
When the Arc
of God had been returned to Israel, Samuel proclaimed a challenging truth. Our
main verse for this message is that challenge and it is one that remains true. Putting
away what you should not have allows you to have what you should. According to Samuel, we should have a heart
directed to the LORD and the ability to serve Him only. In order to have this, what do you need to put
away? The same question can be asked of us as a church. What do we, as a
church, need to put away so that we can gain what we don’t have?
Finishing
this thought, it would be wrong to avoid a couple of obvious questions. What if
God is not your main concern? What if God is your means to an end? If you find
yourself in this positon, you are among many. It is very difficult for us to
grasp the fact that God had a reason in mind when He created us. However, when
you accept this, you will find peace in nothing else. When you accept this, He
will be your main concern instead of a means to an end.
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